It's been pretty intense, being in St Louis with all that's been going on. Even though we're twenty-miles away from Ferguson, knowing it's just down the road is terrifying. There have been loud bangs going off every evening and no-one seems to know what they are. No-one seems very concerned either, so I'm just trying to follow their lead.
I thank God that Britain isn't pro-gun, I really do. It's another world over here. It's another world twenty-miles away. But the scariest thing is that it isn't another world at all; it's real-life in which people are being gunned down in the streets by rampant, militarized police. We're living in a dystopia.
My own little world has been taken up with writing and visa-applications. One is going well, the other is making me want to rip my hair out. Objectively, it's all going to plan, but I can't seem to make my brain accept that. I'm terrified of it being rejected and wish I could run away from it, but I can't. Once it's done, it'll be the best feeling in the world.
Writing is going very well. I've gone through the 50,000 words mark (!!!) and I've hand-written 147 pages. It feels like an achievement and the closer I come to the end, the happier I am. I know there's going to be a huge amount of work at the other end, but I'll be starting in a place I can be proud of.
Every time I sit down to write, the story and the characters take me off into completely different territory that I could never have planned. All my plans have fallen along the way, but the story as it stands feels right. I'm going to have to take them in hand when I start typing up, but at the moment I'm content to let it develop as it wants to. I've stopped being afraid of giving up - if something's not working, I re-work it until it does.
It's going well.
I've started developing my 2014 NaNo playlist and have rediscovered Brain Crain. Beautiful music, and I especially love his piano/cello duets. Recommended for tranquil writing time.
